The impact of vessel traffic on whales’ critical life functions
Level of noise already degrading the critical habitat of Southern Resident killer whales.
In a paper published in Nature, authors examined the impact of vessel traffic on whales. This video was the result of being able to track a blue whale (the blue dot) as it swims amid heavy ship traffic (the brown dots) in the Gulf of Ancud off Chile 3/22/19 to 3/29/19.
Although the behavior between species differ, Southern Resident killer whales produce and listen to sounds in order to establish and maintain critical life functions: to navigate, find and select mates, maintain their social network, and locate and capture prey.
The existing level of noise has already degraded critical habitat and studies suggest it has reduced the feeding efficiency of these whales. Projects like the Trans Mountain Pipeline and the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Expansion put further harm on Southern Residents.
